Vanguards of the Fallen Leaves
by Krokador
Summary: Three years since Akatsuki has won the war. Sakura has been doing her best to keep what remains of the Konoha shinobis alive, but when a mind-controlled Ino finds their hidden village, she decides to take action before the organization takes care of them. Saku/Ino.
1. Chapter 1: Counting The Hours

_AN: Whelp, how long has it been?! What kind of hole did I crawl out of just now? Wait, what?! I'm alive? Haha. Yeah. Never thought I'd go back to writing Naruto fanfic. In fact, I'll be honest here: I never finished reading the manga (dropped out somewhere around the point with the bee-guy jinchuuriki? I'm in the process of rereading Shippuuden from the beginning but it'll take a while xD)._

 _Howevah! I've had so much trouble getting my writing spark back lately, that I became nostalgic and re-read my previous stories. Plot-wise it's not too bad, but dare I say, my mastery of the english language has gotten_ _ **mucho**_ _better over time. POAL was downright cringe-worthy. BOAL was awkward at best (and that ending? Ugh! I R disappoint). WMITTN, albeit clumsy, remains my favorite of them all. But now I want to do even better! So uhm, I guess we'll see where this goes?_

 _This is not a sequel to anything I wrote previously (despite the likeness of the title). However, I reserve the right to recycle Ike/Han/Izzy/Yuhi (although hopefully I can avoid Gary Stu-ing Ike this time around, lol)_

 _Alright, I've bored you all enough. On with the Prologue!_

Usual **disclaimer** applies. Naruto ain't mine and I don't mind :) Oh, and most chapter titles will most likely be borrowed from the band **Digital Summer**. They rawk!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Counting the Hours**

She watched the retreating form of Konohamaru slowly pad his way out of her office, his shoulders slumped and his head forward even further than they had been when he had walked in. She repressed the shaky sigh of despair that wanted to escape her lips so badly as long as she could, and hoped he was out of earshot before she released it. The last thing she wanted to do was make him feel even worse about the news he was carrying.

It wasn't his fault.

"Hokage-sama. I… We. The dam is near-dry. There hasn't been enough rain to keep up with the demand. We… At this rate we'll need to move within the next month."

It was grim news, but she had been expecting it. They would have to move sooner or later, anyway. Else Akatsuki would find them and annihilate what was left of the Leaf shinobi for good. And she couldn't allow that.

She shot a glance out the dirty glass pane that served as her window to the village she was now responsible for. Small huts and tents with a stretch of farmland to the side. It wasn't much, but it was the best they could do with their limited resources.

Her hand idly traveled the length of her pink hair as another sigh, one she did not hold back, escaped her lips. The frown that distorted her features was deep set, causing small wrinkles to form at the side of her eyes. She always found it ironic how her teacher had had jutsu that allowed to look young forever, and yet she had inherited the destiny of aging much, **much** faster than she should've been.

"Three years to the day…" She remembered because today would have been Kakashi's birthday. Her hand moved over to her mouth as she suppressed a sob. Try as she might, she couldn't change the past. All she could do was move forward with what she was given. the lone tear that left the corner of her eye dripped from her chin unchecked.

Her eyes fell to the picture frame that sat on her desk. A worn, slightly charred remain of her childhood: that first picture of Team 7. She missed them all. Naruto more than the others. Probably because there was this gut feeling of hers that told her he was alive, out there, somewhere. That Akatsuki hadn't managed to put their dirty hands on him and the nine-tailed fox yet. And that remained their biggest hope in ever claiming back their rightful place among the world.

"Sakura-chan?" A deep male voice interrupted her reminiscing and made her jump ever so slightly. She didn't have to look up to know who it was. For one, Kiba's smell was one of a kind. And there weren't many people left that called her by her first name. The closest to familiar she would get was Haruno-sama. Most of the time they used her formal title. One that she still had a hard time believing was hers.

"How's Akamaru doing?" She asked without letting her eyes leave the picture frame. Her voice was raspy and tired, but it held genuine concern. Kiba tried his best to smile and ease her worries, his arm reaching back to scratch at the back of his neck. She could have sworn she heard his dusty cheeks crack under the effort.

"He's good, running around like a wild wolf again. I should be good to resume scouting duties within the week." He waited a few appropriate seconds after his answer before he unceremoniously sat himself on the corner of Sakura's desk.

She nodded, letting a loose strand of hair fall in front of her eyes. She finally looked up at him, mostly to shake it away from her view, but also because seeing him **did** ease her worries a bit. He had managed to stay relatively carefree, and it seemed almost effortless for him to go around spreading a little bit of joy in these difficult times. She was thankful he had managed to slip out of the invader's grasp at the last minute and joined them here.

He'd tried to convince everyone he had been lucky. It was a bittersweet luck to escape one terrible faith only to be stuck running for his life for the rest of his existence.

Sometimes she wished she would have died. Stayed back there. Or at least tried to save Ino…

Sakura shook her head and smoothed the front of her crimson red shirt. The problem with Kiba was that he always allowed her to drift off into memory land. No matter how pressing the matter was. He was almost too polite, in that regard.

"That's not why you're here, is it?"

He shot her a wolfy grin, which she attempted to mirror, if only for the fact that it did ease her mind for a while to smile. "Nope, but I'm always touched you find it in you to care about such trivial matters." He shifted his body around a bit to better face his friend. Sakura rose a pink eyebrow at him, urging him to state his business. He winced ever so slightly before he spoke. "There's a bit of a ruckus coming from the east end. Some folks have been running in saying Akatsuki's reached the farm lands. Everyone's safe, but I think we should go check it out. Just in case. It's probably nothing, as usual. But hey…" He jumped off his perch and shook his head almost dog-like, his wild, untamed hair flew around his head with the motion. "Figured you could use some fresh air."

Sakura furrowed her brows. False alarms were common, true. And she seldom needed to check them out personally. If Kiba was here requesting her presence, no matter how disguised the suggestion was, it must have been serious enough. With a deep breath of resolve, she rose from her chair and stretched out before giving him an appreciative nod.

They walked out of the office in silence. Sakura didn't bother telling her aide, a kid that was even younger than Konohamaru and hadn't even had a chance to learn the way of the ninja properly, what this was about. Intrinsically, whenever Sakura walked out of her office in the middle of the day, everyone knew it wasn't good news.

Hinata and Shino were waiting for them right outside the small building, hands in their pockets and badly masked grim looks on their faces. She gave them an acknowledging nod which they returned solemnly. "Haruno-san," Shino began, before she rose her hand to stop him.

"I know." She nodded again to herself. "For some reason I just knew this was bound to happen today. Where? How many?"

Hinata was the one that spoke up. Her voice had gained some strength throughout the years. She held herself square, confident. Tough times had merely made her tougher. _Naruto would be proud._ Sakura found herself thinking as she listened in to the report. "One. It's that man-eating plant guy. But there's something odd with his chakra. It's… disrupted. He's right by the corn field."

Sakura rose an eyebrow. "He hasn't attacked anything or anyone yet?"

Shino shook his head in the negative. Sakura's mouth shaped itself into a thoughtful pout. "Then it's gotta be a scout. Which means they know where we are. Let's stop him before he sees someone and decides to eat them."

The four young ninjas nodded in unison before disappearing in a cloud of dust. The clearing in which they found the member of Akatsuki was mostly dried out from the lack of water, and it was easy to distinguish the black and red cloak through the battered stalks. The person in the shape of Zetsu seemed lost in thought, but a slight tremor in his hands betrayed what was really going on. Sakura's eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

 _That feeling…_

They had witnessed countless Akatsuki doubles - people disguised as members, typically serving as decoys. It never was a good sign when one was just standing there. But worse even, was when there was a definite lack of doubt as to whom the original body belonged to. Sakura's breathing became labored. She tried to remain as calm as she could as she motioned to the team she led that this was a capture mission.

There were a few blinks of confusion from all of them. Despite the unusual orders, Hinata and then her two male teammates nodded their understanding. No one would question orders from the Hokage. That was both a blessing and a curse to Sakura. She may live to regret her decision. Or they may all die. But she had to try.

She performed a few hand signs and hoped Hinata caught on to what she was going to do. They had successfully combined her Genjutsu and the byakugan's abilities to force a possession to end without killing the original owner of the body in the process. It hadn't been very useful, for the man had been brain dead by that point anyway. _But I have to try…_

Kiba came out of his hiding spot howling as he finished his transformation into a giant wolf. The diversion was cast. Shino's bugs circled the area, acting as a barrier to make sure no one was getting in or out. Sakura closed her eyes in concentration. She couldn't afford to miss. The last few signs came together quickly and she homed herself in close to the Zetsu doppelganger, just as he seemed to regain full control of the body he was possessing in time to avoid Kiba's fangs making a direct lunge at his head. Her hand connected with the back of his head and she immediately ran out of dodge while Kiba took a well placed kick to his stomach and flew back.

A few seconds of silence followed, Zetsu's face twisting with the initial confusion and then the realization of what was happening to him. They didn't have much time. Sakura nodded to Hinata who made her moved and immediately began working the combination of chakra pores that would force Zetsu's chakra out of the body.

Kiba was on standby, ready to jump in at any moment. They all held their breaths as they waited to see if the maneuver had succeeded. They wouldn't get a chance to try again. The next hit that would come would have to be fatal.

Sakura was pleading with Kiba from the corner of her eye to do it for her if it came to that. He squared his jaw in understanding. She couldn't do it. And he knew why. The smell was very faint, but he knew it well. He hoped with all his might that he wouldn't have to do it, too.

A loud twhack echoed through the fields when Ino's limp body fell on an old broken wheelbarrow. Just like that, the fight was over as quickly as it had started.

It took a few moments for Sakura's body to allow her to move. While she had known this was her long lost friend and rival from the very beginning, actually seeing her made it all too real. Frozen in time and space, the mix of hope and sadness churned in her stomach to the point where she even threw up a little in her mouth. Then the tears unchained down her face. She was still the first to run over to Ino and kneel down next to her, immediately busying herself with checking the girl's vitals.

"You're alive. Ino. We got you. You're safe now." She cried as she spoke the words out, not giving a care in the world if the others saw her like this. They were the closest to family she had left here.

Ino's eyes struggled open for all of a split second, a spark of recognition flashing by, a fleeting moment, before the light went dull and her eyes closed again. It was enough for Sakura to clutch at the blonde's mangled hair as if her life depended on it and break down entirely.

The other three nins stood at a respectable distance as they witnessed the scene, worried frowns shadowing their eyes.

Sakura's fist clenched so hard around Ino's hair her knuckles turned white. They were going to pay. The whole lot of them. And she would save Ino. No matter what.

Before she could even speak the orders that were to follow, Kiba stepped forward and beat her to it. "I'll start the evacuation protocol."

Shino followed suit. "I'll scout the area to make sure there are no more threats for now."

Only Hinata remained. And she hated what she had to do. "We have to take her in and examine her. Make sure no tracking devices or..."

Sakura cut her off, her head bowing in submission. "I know..." she said, softly.


	2. Chapter 2: Morphine

_AN: I_ _ **swear**_ _I don't have it in for Ino! In fact, it would be all the opposite. I love her and she has such a strong personality… It just always seems to work out that she's the one… in need of rescuing? Sakura's just kind of an easier pillar to use to center a story around. And her internal struggles just draw me in a bit more? And oh, hey, Hokage? How'd that happen? Well, obviously, you'll find out soon enough. *winks*_

 _Previous chapter was written in a single night. It's good to see my writing muscles are not_ _ **too**_ _rusty so far. This one took a bit longer but hey, it was worth it :) To be honest tho, I have but a slight idea where this is going. And none of where this will end. Ha. The last time this happened, I ended up starting a story arc I thought would be 10-12ish chapters and ending it after 6-7 in the most abrupt of ways. It's a risk I figure I should warn you guys about early on._

 _I also don't wanna be the gal that goes "wah wah please review and I'll update faster" (which, let's face it, I'm a busy gal, your reviews will not affect the speed of my writing. But maybe the quality of the work. Motivation and all? Yea.) so I'm just going to put this out there once: I genuinely want to get serious about writing again. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. Yea, yea, fanfiction is not exactly the highest work of art there is, but it's an outlet and I'd rather be writing stuff that won't get me anywhere than nothing at all._

 _And ZOMG Am I boring you guys yet again? On with the chapter._

 **Chapter 2: Morphine**

 _The fire erupted seemingly out of nowhere. It quickly engulfed the eastern wing of the hospital in a ball of flames and a loud bang._

 _It took a moment for Tsunade and Sakura to be able to hear what each other was saying. Even when the buzzing in their ears died down, the ruckus caused by the sudden attack made it hard to think properly._

 _"Is it Akatsuki?!" Sakura yelled above the chaos. Tsunade shook her head helplessly. Heck if she knew. Her eyes scanned the debris and collapsing roof in hopes to find her aide, Shizune, peeping her head through with some details._

 _But who were they kidding. It_ _ **had**_ _to be._

 _Sakura squared her jaw in resolve. She was going to find out. "Let me tag with Ino-Shika-Cho, and we'll go assess the situation!" She asked pleadingly. In the absence of Naruto, who was gone training again, she was spending most of her free time with her childhood friend and her team. She knew they were supposed to be nearby today and it would only take a moment to find them._

 _Another explosion, this one a good bit farther away, shook the ground around them and caused the already damaged roof to give in on top of a few civilians that were making a run for their lives. Tsunade's frown turned into a grimace. "No!" Her tone left no room to argue. "You will help evacuate the hospital and take_ _everyone_ _you can gather out of the village and to safety!"_

 _"W-WHAT?!" She had a hard time believing what she was hearing. Or making out. Maybe she had misheard. She hoped so. She was strong now. She could hold her own in a fight. She had defeated Sasori with Chyo, whom she had never fought with before. With a team she was familiar with, nothing was too much for her to handle. "I can_ _ **fight**_ _! Let me defend the village!"_

 _Tsunade simply glared at her. Any other shinobi of the leaf might have actually passed out under such an intense stare. It was cold and calculated. Yet there was this hint of pain and motherly love shining through._

 _Deep down, Sakura knew that if this was what they feared, then Tsunade had the right idea._

 _She tore her gaze away from her master, repressing her tears. Then she nodded solemnly. "Hai, Tsunade-sama. Arigato."_

 _By the time she had managed to gather the hospital's personnel and the patients that could walk or be carried and made her way outside, all hell had broken loose. She was going to head in and towards where she knew Ino's team would be when a duo of Anbu raced by her and nearly knocked her down in the process. In this chaos, making her way towards the fight was the worst of ideas._

 _Kiba came upon her just as she was about to resolve herself to going in anyway. They had a few jounins nearby, someone else could rescue the civilians. But he stopped her from doing so with a hand on her shoulder and a sad shake of his head. He was hurt. Barely standing, even. He had seen what was going on. Silently, he was telling Sakura it wasn't worth it._

 _"Tsunade-sama ordered me to take everyone I could find and to lead them to safety. Away from the fight." Sakura told the boy, who's sharp canine dug into his lip hard enough to draw blood._

 _"Right." He said, with a pang of fear lacing his voice. "I guess that means us too, uh?" Sakura merely nodded at him, not trusting herself to say anything more. It wouldn't take much to convince him and herself to go back in the melee._

 _He nodded back his understanding and hopped away. "We'll be right on your tail and gathering folks, too!"_

"Her vitals are strong and she doesn't seem to have any major physical injuries." Tanaka, one of the few adults that had made it out of the village that day, a medic apprentice, stood next to the bed where Ino lay unconscious, Sakura nervously sat at the girl's her side. "The search revealed no tracking devices or hidden chakra infused items."

Sakura nodded in understanding. She could have performed this search herself. She should have been coordinating the evacuation process. Instead she sat by her friend's side and it seemed like her legs were made out of jelly. She couldn't get up, couldn't move. Couldn't do anything. She felt so powerless.

"However…" the older lady, her black, shoulder length hair bobbing away as she shook her head with a hint of guilt, began with a sigh. "There's no telling how much damage the jutsu has done to her brain. Not to mention the things she might have seen and experienced while imprisoned or possessed. The Ino that wakes up, if she ever does, will most likely not be the Ino that you knew back then. I'm sorry, Haruno-san."

Sakura ran a hand over her face, pausing it in front of her mouth to stifle a sob. Her other hand reached over to brush Ino's blonde bang away from her face. "She was fighting it." The words came out softly, yet there was a strong, loud spark of hope in it. "She was trying to break through the jutsu when we found her."

Tanaka's face contorted into a sad smile. She hated having to be the voice of reason. She knew how much Ino meant to Sakura. "She wouldn't be the first one to do that only to never wake up."

The silence that fell upon the room felt like lead coursing through their veins. Sakura refused to acknowledge the statement. Tanaka had to push. "Keeping her alive, trying to treat her… It would be a considerate strain on our already thin resources."

Sakura's eyes were fixated on Ino's face. As if staring at her long enough would magically bring her back to life. She couldn't tear them away, even to speak. "If she does make it, though, she probably has invaluable intel on our enemy. And even if she never gets back to fighting shape, her family jutsu would prove immensely valuable to us." She paused for a moment, her conviction not as strong as she had wanted to make it sound. In the end, no matter what excuses she would find to do so, at the core of it all, it was her selfishness that would drive her to do anything she could to save Ino. _I should have gone back for you, anyway..._

"We've been sitting around too long, Tanaka-san. Once we get the village back to safety, I think it's time we take the fight back to Akatsuki." It was the first time she mentioned this to anyone, but her decision had been made for her. If Akatsuki were baiting her by sending her friend over to the village, she was going to bite. If it wasn't a trap? Well she didn't care.

"Could you send for Kiba once you get out, please?" She finally asked after another moment of silence, this one contemplative.

Tanaka nodded and took the hint, leaving the two girls alone for the moment being.

Sakura watched her retreat before she let her head fall on Ino's slowly rising and falling chest, her pink hair splaying across the girl's arms in a halo of sorts. "I'm so sorry, Ino."

There was a twitch of the girl's fingers against Sakura's cheek. It was enough to cause her to stir a bit and raise her head. She could swear she had seen Ino's eyelids open and shut really quick. Then she was still again. Letting out the breath that had been caught in her throat, Sakura sighed loudly and resumed her previous position. Only this time her hand reached for Ino's and intertwined their fingers together.

"Heard you called for me?" Kiba stood in the door with a sheepish look on his face, his hand up to scratch at the base of his neck. "Sorry it took me that long."

With a groan, Sakura peeled herself off Ino's sleeping form. She rubbed at her eyes gingerly, wondering how long she had been asleep there. If Kiba was apologizing for being late, then it must have been quite a while.

She accepted his apology with a yawn. "How's the evac progress?" It wasn't why she had called him, but she still needed to keep on top of her duties, too.

"We have everything packed and ready to go. Everyone's either home or someone will communicate with them shortly. We're leaving at dawn. Still no sign from any other enemies. If they're close, they're _really_ good at hiding."

Sakura nodded to him, at the same time casting a sideways glance at her friend. Still immobile. Her face was contorted in some sort of wince. The sight renewed her resolve. "Say, Kiba?" She asked in a low, quiet voice. The tone piqued her friend's curiosity, and he sat himself on the edge of the bed, one hand braced against his thigh, in order to bring himself to eye level with Sakura. He didn't need to press her onwards. "How crazy would you think I've gone if I said we should start fighting back?"

The question took him aback. Sakura's eyes had slowly moved from Ino to him while she spoke, then rapidly darted back and forth once before her jaw squared to signify this wasn't a joke. Not that Kiba would have taken it as such. As aloof as he let himself seem around people, he had grown to know and read her very well, and he knew when the situation required him to be serious. She was thankful for that.

"Eh. You're asking **me** , of all people?!" His rhetorical question was followed by a nervous chuckle as he brought his free hand up to brush it through his shaggy hair. "The only reason I haven't gone back there yet is because, of all people, I trust your judgment when it comes to these things. Sakura-chan…" It was his turn to cast a glance towards Ino. Of all the Akatsuki scouts they had encountered, this one had definitely hit a sensitive chord, and not just for Sakura. He wasn't as close, but seeing one of his fellow classmates like this brought an angry growl to his throat.

Sakura laughed bitterly before he could finish his reply. There was a moment of silence then. It became a nerve match to see who would speak up first. "It's insane." Kiba finally admitted, chewing on his words before he continued. "But we've had time to regroup. We've trained everyone to be the best they could be. We've been on the run for three years, right? I think everyone is antsy to actually **do something** about it. No matter how impossible it might seem."

Sakura nodded. His thoughts mirrored hers almost to the tiny details. He would take her next order seriously. At least she hoped so. "Kiba-kun, I want you to go on an S-Rank mission for me. You and Akamaru. Only."

Kiba's eyebrows rose up to his hairline. A **solo** S-Rank mission? What kind of crazy plan had Sakura hatched behind that big forehead of hers?

He calmly waited for the rest. There was a hint of pink rushing to Sakura's cheeks as she tried to argue with herself that it indeed was the right thing to do. Anyone else would chew her ear out for this and question her leadership right then and there. But she couldn't shake the gut feeling that told her she had to do it.

"We need allies." She began, not trusting herself to state the specifics before gauging his reaction. Even though she knew he wouldn't disagree with that.

He nodded his agreement silently, the corner of his lips rising up quizzically. Sakura bowed her head for a moment. "I need you to find Naruto and bring him back to us."

There was a pause, a suspension of time and disbelief. Then in an instant Kiba's eyes grew larger. The next he was folded over laughing. "You've got to be kidding. Yes, yes, Sakura-chan. You have gone bonkers!"

His laughter slowly receded into bitter chuckles. The surprise had passed and his mood was back to being somber and focused. Sakura cringed throughout the whole thing, but stood her ground. "I know he's alive and out there. If Akatsuki had found him, we would have been annihilated a long time ago. He's got the nine-tailed fox's power. And no doubt after all this time training, he'll be a really strong asset."

Kiba shook his head nervously. "You don't honestly believe that knucklehead has stayed away from Akatsuki all this time. For all we know, he went and got himself killed trying to get Sasuke back."

The mention of Sasuke's name brought up a shadow over Sakura's eyes. If he'd been with them… No, it probably wouldn't have changed the outcome of the battle. Her fingers dug into the sheets of the bed besides her. "He's alive. Probably somewhere in the mountains west of here, in fact. I know he's out there. Kiba." She waited for his eyes to meet hers, conscious that tears were threatening to spill from them at any time. "Please."

It took him a deep breath and some rummaging of his own feelings before he gave in with a wolfy grin. "Alright. I gotcha. Will do. When do I leave?"

Sakura immediately sighed in relief. Her entire body seemed to shiver with the weight falling off her shoulders. "Tomorrow at dawn with everyone else. Don't… tell anyone about this mission. Not Hinata nor Shino, not your sister, no one."

"Hai." the teenager answered solemnly, his grin leaving place to a slightly bothered expression. "Just one question." He began, holding off until Sakura gave him the right to speak his mind with a nod. "If you knew he was alive, why not find him before now? Why hasn't **he** found us?"

Sakura etched a sad smile his way. "He's a target. He stayed away to protect us. Whether that was his decision or not, we owe him for that. But now…" She looked out the small window of the room they were in with a distant expression. "Now that we're about to fight, I think it's time we reunite everyone we can."

Kiba's chin raised up suspiciously at that statement. "Is there someone else I'm not thinking of here that you think will help us?" He asked, this time not waiting for consent.

Sakura's dry chuckle confirmed his suspicion. "Well, if this idiot Naruto has indeed managed to get back into Sasuke's good graces…"

"Okay." Was Kiba's last response, the closing of the conversation for all her cared. He was not a fan of the last Uchiha survivor in the least, especially not after that failed rescue mission that had almost killed him. But it was true that they weren't in a position to be picky.

Then he had a bit of a second thought and halted his steps right by the door, only to turn himself back halfway. Just enough to see Sakura struggling to keep her tears in check until he was out. His heart clenched. She had held it together this long and he felt bad for putting yet another strain on her with this question.

It had to be asked, though.

"What if…" he began shyly. Sakura's eyes rose to meet his as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. He almost lost his resolve. "If I can't find him… How long should I keep searching?"

Sakura tore her eyes away from him and answered without missing a beat. "Three weeks at most."

"Hai." Satisfied that Sakura hadn't hesitated in giving a response, meaning she was ready to face the fact if it came to it, he went on his way. It eased his worries up a bit. She wasn't insane, just insanely optimistic about the possible outcome. Just like Naruto would have been. He smirked to himself.

Whenever things would go dark for the village and there was a council meeting debating the worst case scenarios, Sakura always had this ace in her sleeve. It never failed to bring everyone's focus back to the matter at hand and give them hope. WWND. _What Would Naruto Do_. Even in his absence, the orange-clad ninja had remained a source of inspiration to all the young shinobis that remained of the Leaf village. Even he himself, quite an optimist, would have to admit he sometimes looked up to that strength of character.

All of a sudden he felt bad for even asking. Of course Naruto was alive. And he would find him. Even if it took him _months_ to do so.

 _Numb._ It was the one word her brain could manage. It kept repeating in a loop, neverending. Looming. Doom impending. Whenever she tried to shift her mind back to actual thoughts, it came back with a vengeance.

It was easier to just let go and not feel a thing.

She couldn't remember how long she had been in this infinite loop, spinning around in circles inside her own head. But she was a fighter. She _would_ get through eventually. Open her eyes again. She could have sworn for a fleeting second there, she had seen familiar green eyes boring into hers.

It could be her mind playing tricks on her. Plus, she had no way of telling if it had happened a mere five minutes ago or years, if it did. She was weary and tired. Exhausted even. What was it she was fighting for, anyway?

"I should have never left you back there."

 _Huh?_ The words were loud and clear, a piercing light in the darkness of her head. Her mind was floating aimlessly, but suddenly a buoy had been thrown her way. She knew that voice. And with all her might she hung on to it as if holding onto life itself.

"I was such a coward, listening to Tsunade-sama. I wanted to go. Please believe me, Ino. Please, come back to me. I can't do this without you anymore."

The pleading tone nipped at her heart painfully. She knew she was alive right then because her limbs suddenly regained their weight. Her body ached. She forced her eyes to flicker open. Aware of a sensation around her hand, she tried to squeeze her fingers. It was her elbow that ended up jerking ever so slightly. That was good enough to catch Sakura's attention.

"Ino? Are you awake?"

If her limbs had stopped being weightless, her mind was still floating far, far from the scene. She was probably was drugged out of tomorrow, and it didn't make this any easier. She struggled with herself to not drift back just yet. She had to give her friend some indication that yes, she was there. Still fighting. She wanted to say the girl's name. Let her know she was _alive_. Her face contorted into a painful grimace as the syllables slipped out.

"B-bah. Burr. Egaigh." A tear slipped from her eye as her throat emitted a guttural growl. The pained expression she saw flash in her friend's eyes for a split second made her feel so powerless.

Her body had already forced her back to the numbness as her eyes shut once again. Leaving Sakura to squeeze the blonde's hand tighter. "It's okay, Ino. I'm here. Rest for now."


	3. Chapter 3: Set The World On Fire

_**AN: So, the last chapter happened (if you can call that an happening. Guess it wasn't super exciting.) But hey, it's all about the set-up. ;)**_

 _ **Now, NOW, we're talking SRS BSNS. New characters, some action, some jutsu (my apologies if they're weird?), and of course, Kiba being Kiba (wouldn't be a Kro-fic without that! lol). Hm, oh, and in case you *missed* the InoSaku mention in the summary… (Or were looking forward to it? I hope you are!)**_

 _ **Happy to see there are some people following the story already :) Hey, if you're an old follower of mine, drop a word in! I may have forgotten that I was reading your fics back in the day!**_

 _ **And just in case some of you are not familiar with my title-choosing: Typically, I'll go for song titles, but sometimes the hook plays better. Tis' one of 'em. Why I explain this is cuz I truly believe knowing the song enhances the atmosphere of the chapter - it's what I wrote with in mind. Not a requirement, but hey, just in case it might shake your fancy and all. So, song is Suffocate by Digital Summer. (If we're being technical here, the line is "Set the whole DAMN world on fire, but shhh)**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Set the World on Fire (Just to Suffocate With Me)**

"Everyone knows what the procedure is and where we go from here on out, right?"

It was a question she did not expect anyone to answer in the negative. Just checking. She was just making sure everything was in order. _Nothing is right about this…_ She trailed off from her inner rambles as Kiba, of all people, raised a hand sheepishly. Her brow twitched without her consent. What now?

"Yes, Inuzuka-san?" She tried to avoid being too informal with her friends in front of the whole village. It was for the best that they saw her as professional and focused. No one here would follow someone who played favorites and could turn on them at the drop of a hat if said favorite decided to leave the village for his or her own personal agenda.

She shook her head in an attempt to chase the bitter thoughts away. Now was not the time to think about Sasuke.

Kiba took a step forward and a playful smirk traced itself across his lips. Sakura's brows furrowed. What the _hell_ was he up to?

"Just wanted everyone to know here: We'll get those bastards. We'll take down Akatsuki, even if it means we lose our lives in the process. We're retreating now but we'll be back to fight another day. Bigger, faster, stronger. The Konoha shinobis are a force to be reckoned with. Don't you guys ever doubt that!" He finished his little speech facing the audience, his right hand extended with his thumb up. A flicker of rising sunlight caught on his teeth and sparkled in the crepuscular semi-darkness. He then adjusted his dark jacket back up on his shoulders, cast a sideways glance to Sakura and added, in as cheerful a tone as he could muster. "We're gonna win, Dattebayo!"

Sakura's next breath came in raggedly. A part of her wanted to slap Kiba upside the head for this little show. She **had** asked him to not tell anyone about searching for Naruto, after all. Heck, they also weren't going to war. Not right away. What good would it do to rile up the village this way?

Her hand halted its path right at the back of his neck, however, when she saw the gloominess of the crowd basically lift off following the man's words. Caught mid-movement, she decided to finish it with a playful ruffle of Kiba's hair, to which he took with a small whimper, trying to shrug himself away like a younger brother would do. "Alright, Narukiba. That's enough. Everyone, get with your team, double check your equipment and let's all be on our way. Stay safe, avoid confrontation until we can regroup. Team four!" She cast her glance towards a duo of young twins flanked with Konohamaru. "You guys will be riding with me for a bit. Everyone else is dismissed!"

A choir of "Hai!" resonated in the clearing before everyone disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving Sakura and Konohamaru's team the only people standing in the village.

Her head bowed down slightly as she was about to give the last order. Her eyes shifted from the two twins, Akari and Akira, a boy and a girl, only slightly younger than Konohamaru. They both held the same listless facial expression today, and always shared the same smug traits. Akari's hair was a deep shade of red and was tied in an haphazard ponytail over her left shoulder. There were two small lines apparently tattooed over her left eyebrow, both also red., Akira's hair was a short, spiky, bright blonde. He had two thumb-sized triangular shaped marks similar to his sister's, but on the back of his neck, yellow in color. They both wore a slightly modified blue Karate outfit over a mesh shirt, with the emblem of their family etched onto it: a searing hawk with the Konoha symbol in its mouth.

She hated what she was about to ask of them, but knew they were strong. Their family, the Ematais, had been serving under the Hokage for many years. There had been some drama and the clan had split into two, a part of them defecting during the term of the second hokage, way back when, but the ones that had stayed had remained high enough in the hierarchy. Their members were especially gifted with elemental jutsu. Despite their young age, thanks to that gift, it wasn't the twin's first rodeo.

There was also no other trio in Konoha that could clean up an area the way they could.

"Akari, go ahead, burn it down." She asked the young girl solemnly. She then tore her eyes away from them, refusing to witness the sad looks they were all giving her. To them, the five months they had spent here was the closest thing to home they had experienced. The longest they had been in one place after time spent at the academy. It was rough for her to leave it behind, so she couldn't imagine how hard it would be to them.

Akari slowly composed a series of seals, her eyes closing in concentration midway. Her brother watched her intently, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip a tad. He was next, but he had to coordinate his jutsu with hers well if they wanted to do this in one fell swoop.

Konohamaru's head sank down for a moment. He knew why he had been teamed up with these two. When he looked up again, his goggles were on his face and his scarf over his mouth. His eyes held a determined look. Akira was now deep into his own preparation. Konohamaru, cast a quick glance towards Sakura, who merely nodded to him. He humpfed quietly. Sakura was also a Doton user. Why wasn't _she_ doing this for him? He had the utmost respect for her, but this was beyond him.

Still, he performed his own technique rather quickly, ending the sequence of signs by slapping his hands to the ground violently and releasing a loud yelp. [Doton: Doryuu Katsu (Earth Style Split)]. The ground began trembling, and cracking at his feet, then the tremors suddenly spiderwebbed their way all over the ground, causing a few of the huts to collapse into the ground slightly.

Akari and Akira were finishing their own preparation. Akari's belly filled with air and chakra as she recoiled her head, ready to launch. Akira's body began surging with an electrical charge that would no doubt take down anyone that would come in contact with it. Their last hand sign were done with a hand each, Akari's left and akira's right, as they both released the pent-up chakra into the cracks created by Konohamaru's jutsu. [Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Mythical Fire Pheonix Technique) vs Raiton: Denki Kumonosu (Electrical Spiderweb)] Supercharged fire bombs, driven by the electric current, popped out of the holes near the houses and exploded as soon as they came into contact with air. The rumbling caused by this was deafening, and the smoke quickly rose to a point where it was hard to breath.

Konohamaru pinched the bridge of his nose, wary of how much chakra he knew he was going to use next. But Sakura put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head before she began forming the seals herself. His eyebrows raised to his hairline as he watched his Hokage get her own hands dirty after all, his respect for her not only restored, but growing some more. [Doton: Doryuu Reibyo no justsu (Earth Mausoleum technique)]. She finished her part by raising two columns of earth by her sides which made their way over to the ruins of their old village and engulfed the fire and flames into it.

The four ninjas looked onto the stretch of land that laid by them now that the dust had settled. It was as if the village had never existed. The three (or four) of them together possessed the power to level a small town in a matter of minutes. It was kind of scary, when you thought about it.

Wiping some sweat off of her forehead, Sakura sighed nervously. They had the strength to take on Akatsuki, didn't they?

Moody weather had settled across the forest where the old Team 8 had been walking in relative silence ever since leaving the village. The teams were divided in such a way that there was at least one chuunin or jounin level ninja near each of the caravans that held the supplies that they had been able to salvage. To avoid being followed, the villagers were to walk very different paths to their defined rendez-vous points.

Being the team Sakura relied on the most, Shino, Hinata and Kiba had been charged with guarding the most important part of their cargo: the food. That had also been done with the idea in mind that Kiba wasn't staying. The three of them together **were** a bit overkill for something like this.

"Aye, guys." Kiba halted his steps near a clearing in the woods, his eyes nervously shifting their gaze to a faraway horizon. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but I've got orders. 'Tis good bye for now."

While Shino knew better than to ask where he was going, - Kiba was such a blabber-mouth, if he had been able to divulge his future whereabouts, he would have already - Hinata still had shyly poked her fingers together with a hint of sadness peeking through her blank eyes. Kiba gave her a half-hearted wolfy grin and ruffled the dark bangs above her head. "I shouldn't be gone long, Hinata-chan." He reassured her. "You guys take care while I'm gone, alright?"

He did not stick around to hear his teammates' goodbyes. Shino grumbled quietly under his breath, which caused Hinata to raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugged. "I said: he's such a teacher's pet." The two chuckled lightly before nodding to each other and catching up with the caravan they were escorting.

After riding with Konohamaru and the two Ematai's team for a little bit, Sakura broke free of them with a few additional directions about their destination. She then found herself racing to catch up with Hana Inuzuka, whom she had conveniently put on a path nearly parallel to her most trusted youngsters.

The reason she had wanted to be with her was that, aside from Team 8, Kiba's sister was in fact the person she trusted the most among all of Konoha. Her medical abilities and the fact she was one of the elders of the village now - a fact which the woman was none-too-happy about - had put her in high esteem of the pink haired leader. As such, the task of carrying Ino had fallen to her.

"How is she doing?" Sakura asked in between jumps from tree to tree. Hana was riding one of her dogs, which made her hard to follow. Ino was safely strapped to another one while the third Haimaru brother was a few paces ahead of her, acting as a scout.

With a barely audible whistle, Hana signaled to her dogs to slow down a bit in order to accommodate her superior. She then cast a sideways glance towards Ino's limp body and shook her head. "No change, I'm afraid."

Sakura gave an appreciative head bob while closing in the distance with the dog Ino was strapped to. Her long blonde hair was loosely tied behind her head so as to not catch in the wind too much. her skin was sickly pale, now that she could see it in the light of day - definitely not the tanned, healthy complexion Sakura had grown used to seeing on her friend. Her slender, almost bony hands were tied together around the neck of the big husky-like dog and her face was pressed into the brown furs of it's neck and bobbed slightly with each stride. It seemed like a perpetual frown was drawn across the girl's forehead. Sakura found her heart clenching in her chest the more she looked at Ino. The girl was obviously malnourished, but that wasn't the most striking difference. If she had to choose, the giant scar running from her jaw, next to her right ear, down to her collarbone would have been the most glaring detail right now. It didn't help that she had no way of knowing if this was an injury, or the result of some form of sick torture.

There was a snarl and Hana's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. The small group came to a halt immediately, Sakura falling into a defensive stance by Ino right away.

A tattered Rock Lee stopped a few paces from them, his head bowed down. There was a moment of silence before either of them could muster up the courage to talk. If Lee was this upset, it wasn't a good sign. But then again, Sakura remembered, he did have a tendency to overreact. A **lot**. That had not changed with time.

It had taken Shino's swarm of bugs to chase him (apparently, he was afraid of wasps) away from the fight and his master Gai, and get him to rescue Tenten from an almost certain death not too long after - that had been a stroke of luck, really.

To this day, Sakura could still barely take him away from his training sessions to call in a village council meeting.

His main complaint was always that Neji had stayed behind to defend his country. He was the only one whose mood didn't sour when thinking about it. Sakura groaned quietly in her head. They could have used a second Hyuuga around the village for sure.

"I've lost my cargo." The words finally slipped through his lips as his shoulders fell forward. So he wasn't really hurt. He had just been searching high and low for the people he was supposed to protect.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief at the news. Anyone who could chase down Rock Lee was a force to be reckoned with. Some cargo snatchers? It was more likely to be a thing that could easily be dealt with.

"I'll send one of my dogs…" Hana began to offer before Sakura cut her off.

"Use all three, Hana. I'll take care of Ino for a while."

It would weight her down a bit, but she prefered to play this on the safe side, for one. In fact, she had to cast a second glance at this Rock Lee.

Something was off. Why were none of Hana's dogs picking up on it?

A kunai flashed out of Sakura's sleeves and into her fingers only to find itself lodged in the ground at Lee's feet. His eyes rose in question but before he could try to pretend anything, the pink haired kunoichi was already striking his chest with an open palm and sending him flying into a nearby tree.

Before they knew it, both Sakura and Hana were surrounded by Rock Lee clones while the one Sakura had attempted to dispel with this chakra outburst slowly dragged himself back up the tree trunk. Hana growled while she cast a sideways glance at her Hokage. It _looked_ and _smelled_ exactly like Lee. She was sure it was him, but Sakura was right. The clones surrounding them were proof of it. But how?

The clones closed in on them as they wrestled with the reality they were faced with. With a groan, Sakura readied herself for a fight and struck first, her fist colliding with one of Lee's faces and immediately dispelling this clone. She dodged a well placed kick by crouching to the ground and flipped herself around elbow first, catching the attacker straight in the gut. Another poof.

One of Hana's dogs bit into the arm of another one of them, another clawed through his chest, Hana herself threw a few shuriken in another one's directions. The clones were slow and weak. But there were so many of them. It was like they kept coming. The _real_ Lee had also recovered himself and was smirking at them from his spot near the tree.

 _Are they after me, or Ino? Both? Just some random thieves trying to secure their loot?_ It didn't feel like Akatsuki - the power coming from this guy was different. Not as threatening. But nothing to be toyed with, either. The duo of Konoha shinobis found out the hard way as they could barely keep up with the attacks while protecting Ino. They had to switch to attack mode.

Sakura performed a series of seals and countered with a few clones of her own, spreading the battlefield to a bigger distance as she carried the plan she had just hatched. Thankfully, Hana was used to fighting by her side at this point and knew what was going on. She started pushing the clones back even further, taking advantage of the numbers they had. Soon enough his forces were spread far enough that his attacks relented just the slightest bit. Sakura managed to grab his foot from beneath the ground while he was partly distracted and sunk his body into it before re-emerging on top of him and holding her foot up to his face. The clones dispersed immediately. The boy gulped but held his head up high - as high as he could considering his position.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Sakura towered over the form of the fake Lee and gave him an intense glare. The bushy brows furrowed over the familiar yet completely unknown face. He didn't seem like he was ready to talk any time soon.

Meanwhile, Hana dispatched one of her dogs in hopes of finding the real Lee and his cargo, and checked on Ino to make sure the fight hadn't reached her.

With a huff, Sakura bent over, picked up the man/boy/person by the arm and dragged him out of the ground. He wasn't smirking, nor did she feel any ill intent from him anymore. If he was trying to delay them or be a diversion, he had done his job and didn't care anymore.

"I am not going to ask again." Sakura warned between her teeth, shaking the impostor by the arm rather violently. "Either you tell me what I want to know, or I will **make** you tell me."

The two eyes that looked back at her were defiant, if only a bit fearful now. Hana winced at the prospect. Sakura wasn't one to physically abuse anyone for information, but she _**was**_ a genjutsu specialist. The few people that had resisted her interrogations hadn't quite been the same afterwards.

"And stop looking like Lee, for fuck's sake!" She gnarled at him as she supercharged her palm with disruptive chakra. She pressed it right on her target's chest violently and sent him flying into the tree yet again. This time, the henge did end, revealing a young boy with frosty white, flowing hair wearing what most likely was Lee's flak jacket.

She grabbed him by the collar yet again, her menacing glare unrelenting despite the fact she was now faced with a rather young kid.

After coughing up a bit of blood, the kid finally raised both his arms in submission. "Okay, okay! Sorry! I didn't think you guys were going to put up a fight! You don't have to kill me!" He pleaded heatedly, his earlier cool demeanor all but forgotten. Sakura held him up against the tree regardless, hitting his head back on the trunk none too gently.

"Who are you, and where is Lee?" She asked again, pressing each word with a measure of calm that even she felt was a bit foreign to her.

The kid's deep purple eyes came to bore right into hers. He looked conflicted for a moment, before he reached up to his mouth to wipe the dribble of blood that filed down his chin. "My name is Hitsugaya Sheidan. Your friend is with my team back where we found him, probably tied to a tree. If you're lucky. I wouldn't waste my time with me if you really care about him and your cargo."

Sakura's grip relented ever so slightly as she cast a glance Hana's way. "Go find them." She ordered almost matter-of-factly, before adding "I'll take care of Ino here."

"Are you sure?" It was a stupid question. Sakura obviously had a good handle on this kid and if the rest of their team was this young, she had no trouble imagining Rock Lee falling for a trap like this.

"I can handle him." Sakura reassured her friend, her voice now softer. The adrenaline rush was over now. She performed a jutsu that bond Sheidan's hands in his back with chakra and gave the departing Hana a soft smile. "I'll keep moving towards the rendez-vous point. Capture his friends if you can and bring them over."

"Hai!" There was only a split second where Hana bent down to recover her luggage before she left the scene on the back of her dog, leaving the last one carrying Ino with Sakura and the kid.

"Alright, Hitsugaya-kun. What all were you guys hoping to accomplish by attacking us like this, anyway?" She asked, pushing him to start walking in the direction they originally were headed in.

He whined a bit, tugging at his restraints. "I'm obviously not strong enough to beat you. You don't need to keep my hands tied." He let out a sigh and let his shoulders slouch forward. "It's hard to move fast like this!"

Sakura merely shook her head. "It's okay." she said, walking in the path below the trees. "We're not in a hurry right now." She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders, then tugged down her red, battered battle shirt. _I'm going to need a change in wardrobe soon…_

"Hmpf." Sheidan bowed his head down, accepting his situation for the moment. "Your friend is walking right into a trap, you know? We're a lot stronger than you think." He attempted to brag, without much conviction behind his words.

"Who do you think **we** are, kid?" She asked him ,suddenly curious. He certainly wasn't acting like he thought they were much of a threat. Were there really that many targets out in the woods these days? Had Akatsuki given up on these parts? If so, why had they sent Ino there?

"I don't know. We thought you guys were travelers. Who **are** you?" His gaze held genuine curiosity when he asked this to Sakura, so she figured she didn't have to beat around the bush much. "You're of the Hitsugaya clan, eh? Then you should know the leaf village. The one your elders defected from with the Ematai clan, a few years back." She began explaining, raking her brain for those history lesson. Who even was paying attention during these classes? She felt like such a nerd for remembering.

The kid's curiosity seemed piqued by this statement. "You're from Konoha? But wasn't the village destroyed by Akatsuki a few years back?"

Sakura sighed at the mention of the war. She still couldn't fight back the feeling of hopelessness, and the guilt that came with knowing she had abandoned her home way back when. "Some of us survived. You're… you're actually speaking with the Hokage herself." She finally settled on giving him the rundown for what it was worth, even though she knew he would probably scoff at the idea.

"What, you?" Sheidan narrowed his eyes, skeptical. He then frowned. "You don't have much power, for a kage."

That statement seemed to hit a nerve, and it was all Sakura could do to hold herself back from punching the kid and showing him just how **much** power she did have. _But that's not the way a leader behaves herself._ "What makes you say that?" She hissed between her teeth, her eyes dead set ahead to avoid looking him in the eye for the moment, for fear of killing him with just a stare.

"My best friend is only ten and he's got more chakra flow than you do."

It was Sakura's turn to scoff. "Just because your friend is bad at controlling his chakra doesn't mean he's more powerful than me." She paused, her ego back in its place, then turned her head his way. "How many friends do you have, anyway? If I didn't know better, I'd say you're from an actual village."

At the mention of a village, Sheidan's face lit up. "Oh, but I am! We're not big, but we're all _really_ strong! _"_ He shimmied a bit, which caused Sakura to stiffen up until she saw a head plate flash underneath Lee's jacket with a symbol she knew all too well. A hawk. Only, this one did not have the Konoha symbol in his mouth.

"So, you **are** with the Ematai defectors." She simply stated, unsure what to think of this. On the one hand, this was good news. These guys didn't seem to have any affiliation with Akatsuki. Which meant they might be potential allies. On the other, she didn't know that she had what it took to mend the bridges that had been burned. "You guys always attack innocent travelers like this or…?"

They came to a stop near a clearing when Sheidan refused to move further. Sakura wondered for a moment if she'd hit a sensitive chord, until the kid let himself fall on his butt. She rolled her eyes before putting him back on his feet by the back of his vest. "Stop it with the antics already." She warned him, not in the mood to play games. Her eyes fell on Ino's inanimate body for a second.

"You might as well save yourself the trouble of going any further. My _friend_ I mentioned earlier is an Ematai. He'll be here to rescue me soon enough."

 _Well, that was… fortunate._ Sakura thought with the hints of an idea forming in her mind. She grabbed the small radio transceiver from the side pocket of her backpack and hoped the interference caused by the incoming storm wouldn't render communication impossible. "Sarutobi-chan, come in?"

There was static on the other end while she waited for a reply. Soon enough, Konohamaru's voice screeched through the tiny speaker. "Yes, _Hokage_ -sama?" his reply had an odd emphasis on it, which Sakura scratched off to calling the kid by his last name. She didn't do that too often.

"Tell Akira to meet me as soon as possible. Alone." She ordered, her tone strict. She might not have much time to act.

The reply came shortly after. The voice on the other side was hesitant. "Nani?!" Some rumbling and squeaking could be heard. Sakura frowned. She was about to tell them this wasn't the time to question her judgement when Konohamaru,s voice piped up again. "He's not happy about this." He simply stated.

Sakura nodded to no one in particular. "I know."

About half an hour later, she was strapping Sheidan on Hana's dog in place of Ino and giving Akira Ematai a once over. Aside from being nervous about leaving his sister's side, he was looking as strong as ever. He could carry this out.

"So you got this, right? Talk to them. Tell them we want to talk, make an alliance. Lead them to our next checkpoint." All throughout, the blonde haired boy nodded his understanding. Sakura leaned into his ear, so that no one else could hear the next part. "If you do have to fight, don't release more than two fangs, you hear?"

A confident smile drew itself across the boy's lips. That was all the reassurance she needed. "Off you go, then!" She patted the back of Sheidan's ride, causing him to jerk back when the dog raced off.

"It's just you and me, now." She spoke out loud to Ino, who was haphazardly sprawled against a tree trunk in the meanwhile. Sakura wiggled her eyebrows pensively as she shifted her backpack to the front. She had no idea if Ino could hear her, but she felt such relief speaking to her blonde haired friend that she didn't stop herself from doing so.

"How about I give you a **piggy** -back ride, eh?"

She could feel the rush of wind through her hair, smell the humidity in the air. If she could just let her eyes flutter open, Ino thought, then this would be the most alive she had felt in years.

She was mildly conscious that Sakura was constantly talking to her. The words weren't clear all the time, but she could understand the gist of it and it was a nice change from how the nurses had been acting like she couldn't hear them prior to their departure. She wondered what they said when she wasn't half conscious. They didn't seem to hold her too close to their heart, that much was a given.

"... so Kiba comes out of the rice field with a bunny in his mouth, blood splattered all over his face and this huge… _grin_ plastered on. I swear, this guy…"

Ino let out a soft chuckle. With her chest pressed up so tight against the pink haired kunoichi - she could feel the muscles rippling under her with every movement - it didn't take more for Sakura to notice she was awake. "Hey, sleepyhead." Her voice was a lot softer all of a sudden, and Ino felt a gloved hand come to rest on her right forearm that was wrapped around Sakura's neck. The simple gesture made her want to cry. She wanted to reply, but the words came out garbled again. Perhaps a bit closer to Sakura's name than the last time she'd tried. "It's okay, Ino. Heck, I'm sorry we're moving you like this so soon. Couldn't take any chances, though."

A loud, dull noise resounded far, far away, only to ominously roll in closer. Ino felt Sakura tense up under her as she let out a single word. "Shit." Her pace increased some, but it was mostly in vain. Only a few seconds later, Ino saw the lightning flash through her closed eyelids, and almost immediately the sky broke down on them.

The rain was cold and relentless. Within seconds, both girls were drenched, and soon enough, Ino began shivering from her inability to keep herself warm. Memories she had tried to keep suppressed rushed to the surface as she suddenly wished she could just pass out again. Go back to the numbness. The cold had an iron grasp on her, however, and even when Sakura wrapped her cape around her in a desperate attempt to keep her remotely comfortable, the tears started flowing down her cheeks unchecked.

Sakura felt the warmth on her neck clashing with the heavy drops and a deep frown settled onto her forehead. She halted her frenetic race against the weather for half a moment, and shifted her cargo in the opposite set-up: her backpack on her back, and Ino in her arms bridal style. Granted, it would be more tiring to carry her friend this way, but at least she could shield the girl from some of the rain. "Shh, Ino. Hang in there, okay? I'll find us some shelter."

She gently brushed a wet strand of blonde hair away from Ino's face, a sigh escaping her lips as she saw Ino visibly relax in her arms. If there ever was any doubt that her friend was receptive to her, this had erased it permanently. Sakura hopped off to the ground in search of a dry place, resuming her previously frantic pace. "You'll be okay, 're safe with me."

It didn't take too long for her to find a small cave and dodge into it. After gently putting Ino down against the wall, her first reflex was to attempt reaching Konohamaru. The radio transceiver only fed her static. She sighed. This rain would have her late to her next checkpoint. It would slow down the entire moving process. But what could she do about it now?

She slumped down against the wall, next to Ino, and was nearly jerked out of her skin when she met Ino's open eyes at the bottom, as the girl whispered with a stutter. "Forehead."

Ino took in the sight in front of her: tired green eyes, framed by pink eyebrows that had gotten a bit thicker with time. Locks of wet, pink hair falling down over the feature which had earned her the nickname. She wanted, so badly, to reach out and ruffle those bangs away, the way she had done as a kid. She wanted to bring a smile on those pink lips. Erase the dark circles under the girl's eyes. She was even taken aback by how much change that pretty face had undergone since the last time she had seen it. She was the one in the precarious situation here, but she was the one whose heart broke for her friend and wished there was more she could do. _More than just sit here, immobile and broken…_ If she could have spoken, she would have told the girl to keep going without her. She was a useless burden. _I doubt she would listen, anyway..._

While words, and even Sakura's name were difficult to form, the nickname had fallen off her lips almost effortlessly. The look of surprise on Sakura's face was priceless, and for some reason Ino felt bold enough to try a few more words. "Stupid. Leave. C-cold. M-missed… y-yeargh" Without her consent her body was suddenly wracked with sobs. Immediately, Sakura wrapped her arms around her shaking, shivering form and began to rub her back soothingly.

"Missed you too, _pig_." She returned the nickname favor with a cracked voice. Ino's sobs grew in strength as Sakura moved on reassuring her. "And **you're** stupid if you think I'll ever leave you behind. I'm never, **ever,** leaving you again. You hear?"

Ino buried her face into Sakura's chest and managed to wrap her arm around her waist, which left them holding each other for a long period of time. Eventually, the cold got through to them, and even Sakura shivered. Ino was slowly slipping out of consciousness again and was thankful for it until she felt arms tug at her shirt and pull it over her head. Her eyes shot open as her body jerked backwards, and she launched a kick straight at Sakura's abdomen, sending her reeling backwards, gasping for air.

A few blinks later, the situation finally dawned on Ino. A profusion of incoherent apologies raced past her lips as she tried to will her body to move and go check on Sakura. Alas, it seemed anything that wasn't a hard-wired reflex was still too far out from her reach. All she could manage was to trash around helplessly, until Sakura, now expecting retaliation, dodged a few random kicks and punches until she could wrap her arms around her shaking form and hug her back to a certain sense of calm. As Ino felt the warm tears drip down to the base of her neck, she finally let herself relax enough that Sakura pulled back and met her gaze. The blonde hoped the look in her eyes was enough to explain the outburst. She wasn't ready for the deep understanding she found there. More tears escaped her own eyes.

"God, we're such girls, uh?" Sakura voiced for her, wiping away one of the stray tears with the pad of her thumb. She felt an unfamiliar pinch in her chest, in her heart, when she saw the attempt at a smile Ino directed back at her. A warm blush crept up on her face. This was too close for comfort.

"I'm sorry, should have warned you." Sakura croaked out as she pulled away completely. "I thought you were unconscious. My bad. Just, we're drenched and…"

Ino shivered immediately from the loss of warmth. Of course she understood now. There was so much she wanted to say, too. But mostly, she just wanted Sakura to shut the hell up and wrap her arms around her again. Not really trusting herself to attempt moving any of her limbs, she settled for two simple words she figured would say it all. "Hold me."

Sakura trailed off as the words registered in her mind. She nodded her understanding, then quickly busied herself to lay their clothes to dry near a small fire. She then crawled back behind Ino and wrapped her cape around the two of them while her arms held her against her chest protectively.

It was in the warmth of Sakura's arms that Ino drifted off to sleep. Not unconscious bliss, but actual, dream-filled respite. It was a nice change.


End file.
